(I give credit to 3DFlags.com for the animated flags. Please check out www.3dflags.com.)

Also, please check out http://dx-code.org/

I am located in the southern tip of Texas in a four-countyarea known as the Rio Grande Valley. My QTH is about five miles north of the Rio Grande, the boundary between the USA and Mexico, and about 50 miles or so from the Gulf of Mexico (Port Isabel and South Padre Island). Here's a link to the Weslaco Chamber of Commerce's website. It contains a lot of information about our area. http://www.weslaco.com. When I was looking through it, it reminded me that our area is one of the premier birding areas on the planet!

I got into ham radio in a rather round-about way when I was in high school. I want to thank W5SBN (SK), W5DYB (SK) and W5KPX (SK) for all their help in getting me started. My Novice station consisted of an Eico 723 crystal-controlled 6o-watt transmitter, a Knight R-55 receiver (which had all the qualities of two cans and a string) and a 40-meter dipole about 15 feet off the ground.

I received my Novice Class license (WN5WSF) in 1968, when I was a high school sophomore. I still remember taking the 5 w.p.m. code exam that W5DYB administered, using an article out of the Sunday newspaper, and then, a few Sundays later, taking the theory exam on W5DYB's and W5SBN's kitchen table while listening to a Dallas Cowboys football game they were watching on the television. I received my General Class license (WA5WSF) in 1970, shortly before graduating from high school. My parents were kind enough to drive me to Fort Sam Houston, in San Antonio, to take the code and theory exams before an FCC official. That was a very fun family outing I will never forget. I received my Advanced Class license in 1972, while attending the University of Houston. One morning, I cut class, borrowed a buddy's ten speed bicycle and rode over to the Houston FCC office to take that exam. I received my Extra Class license in 1977, while I was attending the University of Texas School of Law. I cut summer school classes one day and drove from Austin to the Houston FCC office to take that exam.

My main interests are chasing DX and contesting, but I also enjoy ragchewing very much, especially with a 1952 vintage Vibroplex Original bug and a 1968 vintage Vibroplex Lightning Bug. My favorite mode is CW, although I will occasionally wander up the band to try and get a new band country on SSB or dabble in RTTY and PSK.

I was very active from the late 1970s through the early to mid 1980s and then became inactive for about the next 20 years or so while raising a family and trying to grow a small town private law practice dominated my time and attention. Now that KC5VIA's and my three daughters are grown and I've shifted my professional endeavors from private law practice to working in the title insurance industry, I'm hoping to take advantage of the approaching upswing in the sunspot cycle to make up for all the good DX Imissed out on during my hiatus.

Currently, my station consists of an Icom IC-746 tranceiver, an Ameritron AL-82 amplifier and a Hustler 6-BTV vertical antenna.

Memberships: ARRL; QRPadillos No. 11; Vibroplex Collectors Association No. 85; SOC No. 921; CWOps No. 1003; FP QRP No. 2464; NAQCC No. 4568; SKCC No. 6796; QRP ARCI No. 13975; 10-10 No. 76366